Art Peekel

I woke up this morning with a myriad of thoughts crowding my so-called brain. They were mostly observations made since my arrival here on theTalamanca Coast nearly four weeks ago. There were also a few facts that I’ve learned along the way. Others were reflections stemming from those observations and facts.

In the hope that you’ll find them interesting or at least amusing if not provocative, I have decided to share them with you. Some may prompt you to say to yourself, “Knew that!” Others may cause you to simply wonder, “Oh, really?” I’d like to think a few anyway will have you exclaiming, “That’s cool!” So in the spirit of “take’em for what they’re worth,” here goes.

Did you know that the eastern coast of Costa Rica actually runs largely east and west? When I stand on the beach here in Punta Uva and look out over the Caribbean Sea I’m pointed toward Cuba and the U.S.! And the border between Costa Rica and Panama runs mostly north and south?

San Jose, the Costa Rican capital, and Detroit, MI are on nearly the same longitude. Do you know what country you’d come to first if you sailed due east from the northeastern coast of CR? Perhaps you thought of a Caribbean island or West African nation. Well, it’s actually Colombia!

The currency of Costa Rica is the colones. The exchange rate is now about 493.5 colones to the U.S. dollar. Many places and people here will accept dollars in place of colones. Using foreign currency is not easy for me. I have to keep reminding myself that it is NOT PLAY MONEY!

The people of Costa Rica are called Ticos, and I havef ound them to be generally quite friendly. If I say“Hola” or “Buenos Dias” and smile at them, they almost always smile back and often return the greeting. They have been very understanding and helpful when I have tried to speak Spanish.

Men, especially young men, seem to me to drive no differently in Costa Rica than elsewhere in the world, whether they are in a car or on a motor cycle or scooter. And this is not a good thing. Enough said!

When busses, trucks, cars, and motorized two-wheeled vehicles pass bicyclists and pedestrians on the road from Punta Uva to Puerto Viejo they come dangerously close. Makes me a nervous wreck when I’m riding my bicycle. If you ever get a chance to talk to James D., my friend and former colleague at Athens College, ask him about the time on the Greek island of Rhodes when he and I were riding rented scooters and a super sized tour bus ran me off the road. I was picking gravel out of my palms and knees for a month.

There are guys all along the Talamanca Coast who wear their hair like Bob Marley and look quite a bit like him too. I’ve seen several of them wearing his trademark hat with the stripes of red, yellow, green and black. They also talk the way he did. Makes me wonder if it comes naturally or is a conscious thing like when Pat O’C., my friend and former RMHS colleague, used to dress up for Halloween.

Many people, young and old alike, ride bicycles and walk to town, to work or to the beach. Most amazing to watch is the individual, usually but not always a guy, who is carrying his surf board while riding his bike. And there are those who ride with no hands. That has always dumbfounded me but especially here on the pothole riddled roads.

Kids will be kids! Whenever they see me take out my camera here, they strike a pose. The other day at a pickup baseball game in a school yard along the road to Puerto Viejo several of the players shouted “photography, photograph, photograph” when they saw me aim and focus. They’ve got the classic stances down pat.

Thumbs up must be an international sign. If there are two or more near each other the universal “rabbit ears” are very likely to appear. Of course there is the occasional shy one, especially among the young children and the girls. I’ve got some wonderful photographs to share with you whenever I learn how to post them on this blog.

Plantains may look like bananas but they sure don’t taste like them to me. They are usually fried and served like a vegetable--sort of like french fries. Sarah also boils them which makes them a bit sweeter, but still nothing like a real banana.

Speaking of bananas, the tree grows from a “mother” root base. It flowers and bares only one bunch of bananas, then dies. Stefan, my German friend and fellow traveler whom I met at International Space Camp 13 years ago, agrees with me that the tiny bananas are the best.

Speaking of fruits, did you know that there are male and female papaya trees? Mel told me that only the female bears fruit. Sarah has assured me that the more nearly round ones taste the best.

I’ve noticed that there are at least two types of ginger plants around here. They are bushy and generally grow 5-8 feet high sometimes higher. One type is more ornamental and has beautifully colored flowers of different shades of red and pink. The other kind has a smaller flower but a big tasty root that’s at or just below the surface of the ground. Sarah and I quickly spotted some near her house and easily harvested them. The roots are waiting for me to use possibly in an oriental chicken dish.

Sarah makes her own ginger ale. She cuts up the ginger root into tiny pieces and boils it. To the liquid (after the ginger pieces have been strained out) brown sugar is added and the mixture is heated until the sugar has dissolved completely. After this concoction has cooled she mixes in her homemade lemonade. There’s no effervescence, but I find it delightfully refreshing!

I’ve never heard a humming bird hum, have you? The ones in this area chirp. It’s a shrill staccato peep. I see and hear them every morning outside my windows flitting about, feeding on the flowering bushes and singing their cheerful tune! No need to put out the humming bird feeders around this place!

Have you ever seen a live humming bird that was not in flight? Well I hadn’t till a few weeks ago when I noticed that they do perch on branches. They look like a sleek, trimmed down version of a tiny wren (if that isn’t a tad redundant). Of course they’re much more colorful and they’ve got a needle for a beak that’s at least an inch long.

Howler monkeys aren’t nearly as big as their “call” made me think. From the sound of their guttural “roar” I expected to see something the size of a large gorilla. When I finally got a look at one in a tree just a few yards from my house I discovered they’re about the size of a small chimpanzee.

Howlers aren’t very attractive either. No cute organ grinder monkey face on them. What I saw through my binoculars looked more like a gorilla. The ones here are all black and sometimes there's a reddish tint on theirbacks. Unlike apes, they have a very long tail which they use to grab hold of branches.

One more thing about the howlers, also called “CongoMonkeys” by locals. They aren’t nearly as hyperactive and paranoid as the white-face kind. The ones I saw went casually about their business of picking and eating leaves without seeming to care one iota that they were being observed by yours truly.

The white-faced monkeys, which are officially called White-throated Capuchin Monkeys, are an entirely different story. My encounters with them have been more like watching a tornado pass by. Imagine the whirling Tasmanian Devil on speed. Seldom did they stand, sit or hang still for more than a split second, and that was either to take a bite out of the fruit they had just stolen from Sarah’s tree or to take a “hard look” at the guy in the window looking at them. Then they’d be off again climbing, swinging and jumping from one tree to the next.

Dogs here are different. They are everywhere and almost never on a leash. Mostly they walk or sleep along the side of the road or run along the beach. Only on the beach have I seen them with anyone who acts like they own them. They don’t bark, with a few notable exceptions which I’ll write about some othertime, and only one have I ever seen chase a car. Fortunately for me it didn’t have an attitude problem with bicyclists.

I hope you’ve gotten this far and have enjoyed reading these facts, observations and reflections. Please don’t hesitate to e-mail me with your reactions. It won’t take much encouragement to get me to write more in another post. There’s plenty of material around here. And as my family and friends have heard me often say,“Life is so interesting, don’t you know!”